1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a microcircuit card and a method implemented in such a card.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known to use microcircuit cards as a data carrier which a user can present to be able to exercise rights attributed to the holder of the card.
In this context, the card typically dialogs with a terminal which determines, on the basis of data exchanged with the card (originating with the card or not, as in the case of a code supplied to the terminal by the user), whether the bearer of the card (that is to say the user) is authorized to receive the services concerned.
The same microcircuit card may moreover be used for several applications, that is to say it may contain data which enable the card to authorize different services to the user.
The application used during a given transaction is selected by the terminal (in general further to a choice made by the user, for example on a user interface of the terminal); the card receives an item of selection information from the application concerned and continues its operation within the context of that application.
The possibility of operating according to several applications may however prove to be complex for the user, who anyway frequently has no knowledge of that possibility. For example, when the user has to choose on a screen of the terminal what application he wishes to use, the display is in general succinct and does not always enable the operation of the application concerned to be understood, nor to obtain an insight into the possible consequences, in particular when the terminal displays information in a language that is foreign to that of the bearer of the microcircuit card.